FBI arrests 14 in probe of hacker group Anonymous

US authorities have arrested 16 people for cyber crimes including 14 over an online attack on the PayPal website claimed by the hacking group "Anonymous", the US Department of Justice said.

The US indictment against the 14 hackers alleges the denial of service (DDoS) attacks on PayPal were "retribution" because the site terminated a donation account for the whistle-blowing group WikiLeaks.

The Paypal attack suspects were arrested in raids in US states Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Washington DC, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico and Ohio, US officials said in a statement.

Two suspects were arrested under separate indictments but similar charges in Florida and New Jersey, while British police arrested one suspect and Dutch police four, it said.

In all FBI agents made 35 raids across the US as part of a probe into "coordinated cyber attacks against major companies and organisations", the FBI said.

Anonymous, an international hackers group, rose to fame with a series of attacks on websites linked to the Church of Scientology.

The group gained further prominence after launching retaliatory attacks on companies perceived to be enemies of the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks.

Anonymous sabotaged Turkish sites also last month to protest against internet censorship.